SACRAMENTO – When conducting a 4-day hazmat emergency response workshop that is attended by emergency response personnel nationwide, who better to address those in attendance than Matt Krimsky, long-time law enforcement officer and emergency management instructor-coordinator-II at the California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES)?
“I am in awe of law enforcement officers who go beyond the typical duties of a peace officer and pursue knowledge in a specific and complicated area of response, learn it, know it and then teach it to others so that they as first responders and the public can be safe,” said California Statewide Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA) President Alan Barcelona. “Our CSLEA and Fire Marshal & Emergency Service Association (FMESA) Member Matt Krimsky is one of those remarkable individuals. California and Cal-OES is lucky to have him.”
Never boring, always energetic, entertaining and educating, Krimsky was the keynote speaker at the 29th Annual Continuing Challenge HazMat Emergency Response Workshop held in Sacramento September 4-7, 2018. He spoke to an audience of 500 hazmat response professionals.
“Nobody walked out or threw anything at me, so I guess I was successful,” said Krimsky.
The theme at this year’s Continuing Challenge workshop was “Poisons and Paradigms:
Are we still living inside our box?” Krimsky’s topic on September 5th included “OK, we’ve been teaching toxicology and poisoning for years; Have we been doing it correctly?”
Krimsky is a retired San Francisco Police Department inspector sergeant. After a 30-year career with SFPD in which he specialized in hazardous materials/environmental crimes and traffic enforcement and investigations, Krimsky went to work at his current position at Cal OES.
One look at a photograph of Krimsky speaking and you can tell he mixes humor with instruction. He has received many compliments and some well-deserved awards for his work as an instructor and speaker.
“The Continuing Challenge is the largest gathering of hazardous materials emergency responders in the nation,” wrote Dennis Smith, Continuing Challenge Committee Chairperson and Retired Sacramento Fire Department Chief. “Each year, during the first week of September, we bring together the most prominent and skilled presenters who volunteer to provide our students with the most recent information available to develop and enhance skills critical to ensue a safe and effective response.” (The 2018 Continuing Challenge HazMat Workshop Program)
